The observations took place over three Saturday nights, with the consent of the bar owners
who allowed the volume of the bar music — primarily top 40 tunes — to be
adjusted randomly (from 72 dB, considered normal, up to 88 dB, considered high)
throughout each night.

Finding that higher volumes appeared to egg the men on to drink more and faster,
the researchers theorized that louder background sound might be stimulating higher
arousal levels among the patrons. They also considered the possibility that louder
music might simply make verbal communication less viable, leading to more drinking
as a result of less opportunity to interact socially.